In Pursuit of Higher Office, Joe Arpaio Hopes to Get Past That Criminal Conviction Thing

By Susan Wright | 12:30 PM on January 20, 2018

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FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is joined by Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio at a campaign event in Marshalltown, Iowa. Arpaio says he isn't asking now President Donald Trump to issue a pardon for his misdemeanor conviction last week for defying a judge's order to stop his immigration patrols, even though he endorsed Trump and shared the stage with him at several rallies during the 2016 campaign. The former six-term sheriff of metro Phoenix said he doesn't expect anything in return for his support of Trump and that he doesn't feel abandoned by the president. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

This is the guy who looked shocked to discover on TV that his pardon meant that he was guilty of the charge he was being pardoned from.

That’s right, Arpaio. You can’t get pardoned if you’re innocent.

And now Joe Arpaio, the octogenarian former Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff is hoping to get that contempt of court conviction removed from his record.

It probably has nothing to do with the fact that he has recently tossed his hat in the ring to run for one of the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seats.

Local Arizona news station KTAR reported Friday that Arpaio has filed an appeal with the U.S. District Court, arguing that Judge Susan Bolton “refused to give the Sheriff a trial by jury,” and that her “verdict was completely unsupported by the evidence, among numerous other reasons” when she found him in contempt of court for refusing to stop racially profiling Hispanic people at traffic stops for immigration checks.

In October, following a presidential pardon of the sheriff, Bolton accepted that Arpaio would not face sentencing but did not vacate her ruling that found Arpaio guilty.

Arpaio, a dedicated Trump supporter, is also a premiere “birther,” having pulled one publicity stunt after another, in search of that ever-elusive “real” birth certificate of former President Barack Obama.

At nearly 85 years old, however, he feels a new career path is in order.

“I have a lot to offer. I’m a big supporter of President Trump,” he told The Washington Examiner last week.

Seriously. Is that your sole qualification?

Nobody answer. I know that’s really the only qualification that matters in this current political climate.

“I’m going to have to work hard; you don’t take anything for granted. But I would not be doing this if I thought that I could not win. I’m not here to get my name in the paper, I get that every day, anyway,” he said.

Yeah, but not always for good reasons. I think that’s the part you’re brushing over.

Arpaio is vying to compete for Senator Jeff Flake’s seat. Whether this becomes another Roy Moore moment depends on if he can get past Dr. Kelli Ward and Arizona Rep. Martha McSally.

Currently, McSally holds a slight lead in the 3-way race, with Arpaio’s entrance serving as a foil to Ward’s ambitions.